Enter the Amazing Me!
by chiagirl
Summary: It all started when I wished upon a star. I wished that Tales of the Abyss didn't have to end, and now I'm stuck in the game. I had a brilliant plan to try and save everyone but it backfired horribly. How am I supposed to get the story back on track now? I published this ages ago, but took it down due to writer's block. I thought I'd put it back up for those that wanted it.
1. Wish Upon a Star

I had just changed into my nightgown and was staring out my window. I was thinking about Tales of the Abyss, the game I had just beaten. There had been some tough battles, especially with Legretta at Deo Pass and Van at the end. Instead of being happy I had beaten it though, I was actually kind of sad. It was an incredible game and I didn't want it to end. I was devastated that Asch died. I know Ion died too, but I was more upset about Asch. He was my second favorite character after longhaired Luke.

Now I know most people like shorthaired Luke better, but I hated that guy. For one thing, he just looks cooler when his hair's longer. For another, there are not nearly as many funny scenes of him picking on poor Mieu. (I don't have anything against Mieu, but I still thought it was hilarious.) To top it off, he no longer values his life. The whole "I don't want to die, but I have to atone for my sins" thing really got on my nerves. I liked him better when he was a brat. At least then he had some fight in him instead of letting Asch kick him all over the place.

I don't have anything against Ion either, but it would have been a little _too_ unbelievable if they had managed to beat the God Generals and Van _twice_ without any casualties. I know Ion didn't die as a result of battle, but it evens things out a bit. I feel sorry for Anise though. I think they liked each other, but now that Ion's gone I don't know who she'll go with. A lot of people put her with Florian, but I can't see her replacing Ion with a look-alike that easily.

As I was thinking these things, a shooting star zipped past my window. " _I wish Abyss didn't have to end,"_ I thought to myself. _"I wish Asch didn't have to die."_ I was moping for a few moments before reality hit me. **"I'm an idiot! I could have wished for a million bucks!"** Crossing my fingers and hoping to undo the first two wishes in favor of the third, I crawled into my bed to get some sleep.

"Wake up! You have to get up! The Duke will be furious! Please wake up!" I opened my eyes to see a maid hovering over me. _Since when do I have maids?_ "Thank goodness you're up. You've got to get changed, there's no time to waste." She turned around and started rummaging through some drawers. _If I have a maid, does that mean I'm rich? Maybe I'm a millionaire after all!_ I was feeling pretty awesome until she turned around with a maid outfit. "Here, put this on. Breakfast will be starting soon and we're already late."

I just stared at it. _I'm a maid? What happened to my million bucks!_ "Here, I'll help you. She proceeded to yank the nightgown over my head without asking, causing me a great deal of embarrassment. She then shoved the maid outfit over my head. Not wanting to be subjected to any further torment, I grabbed the leggings from her. "I've got it, thanks," I said. She nodded and then went to work making my bed. Seeing that her side of the room was already finished, I changed into the rest of the outfit. She put my nightgown away as I finished.

"Hurry, there's no time to waste." She grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the kitchen. "You carry out the food; I'll take care of the plates and such." I nodded and went to grab the nearest dish. It was lobster. _I've never eaten lobster in my life and these guys have it for breakfast!_ Figuring that I probably couldn't take a bite without someone noticing, I followed her to the dining room.

I had no idea if the food was supposed to go in some specific place or not, so I just set it in an open spot on the table. My roommate had set out three plates; it seemed like such a small number for such a big table. "Hurry back and bring out another dish; they'll be here soon." I nodded and repeated the cycle of bringing out more food. I couldn't identify half the stuff I was carrying. She had brought out the glasses and was now working on the silverware. They had so many utensils; I don't know how they kept track.

She was organizing them when another maid passed us. "You'll need to set an extra place; Dorian General Grants is here." _Dorian General Grants!_ Why did that name sound so familiar? It couldn't be who I was thinking of though, because he's not real. "Could you grab what we need?" my roommate asked me. "I'm still working on this, and you brought out the last of the food."

I told her I could and went to grab them. When I re-entered the room though, I froze. A woman who looked exactly like Suzanne was sitting down. If that wasn't enough to make me stand there with my mouth open, _Duke Fabre and Van_ entered the room. It scared me so bad I dropped everything just as the door I was standing in front of swung into me and knocked me over.

"Hey, what the heck happened?" I recognized that voice; it was Luke Fon Fabre. I was definitely not on planet earth anymore. _I was stuck in a videogame!_ To top it off, the glass and plate had shattered into pieces. They looked like they were worth _way_ more than I could pay for. I was guessing the fact that the silverware was intact wasn't going to help me any.

Duke Fabre looked _scary._ But I had always thought he was kind of creepy, so maybe this was normal. "Clean this up at once!" he shouted at me. "You!" he pointed at the other maid, "Fetch replacements immediately!" Okay, so it wasn't normal. At this point, I was just trying not to get fired.

"Of course Your Grace," she said with a bow before scrambling off. Fortunately, while I was gone, she had moved Luke's silverware and stuff into Van's spot. She probably figured we didn't have much time left. I scrambled to pick up the broken pieces as the Duke and Van sat down. Luke didn't even bother to help; he just walked right past me. "Where's my plate?" he whined.

I was tempted to say _"It's on the floor in pieces, Sir"_ but I didn't think that would go over well, so I kept my mouth shut. "Luke dear, the poor girl was bringing you your plate until you knocked her over. Shouldn't you apologize?" At least Suzanne wasn't mad at me. "She's the moron standing in front of a door, why should I have to apologize to her?" " _I've been here less than an hour and they already hate me,"_ I thought miserably.

"Enough!" bellowed the Duke as the maid scrambled back in. She quickly set Luke's spot. I had finished gathering up all the broken fragments and was tossing them in a nearby wastebasket. Not the best place for disposal, but I didn't want to miss anything. Luke grumpily sat down. "What did you want me for anyway? And why's Master Van here? Today's not a training day is it?"

"Normally no, but I thought I'd get in some extra training with you since I'll be gone for a while," Van responded. "I'm needed in the search for Fon Master Ion."

"What's a Fon Master Ion anyway?" Luke asked. I could see everyone get horrified looks at his question. It's amazing how little they taught him. "Fon Master Ion is the leader of the Order of Lorelei," Suzanne responded. "It's thanks to him that the truce between Malkuth and our Kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear is in effect today."

"If Ion's predecessor, Evenos, is the hero who ended the Hod War, then Fon Master Ion is the symbol of our peace." Van elaborated. "Being that I myself am an official in the Order, it's required that I search for him."

"Who cares," said Luke, "they can search for him themselves. Who's going to train me if you're gone?"

"I'll send one of my men to come and train you in my absence."

"But I want to be trained by _you!_ "

"Luke!" roared the Duke, "That is an incredibly selfish attitude!" Don't you ever think of anyone besides yourself?"

"Don't be so hard on him dear," begged Suzanne. "This child has seen things so horrible that he's forgotten his childhood memories."

"Suzanne, you spoil him."

"It's all right," said Van. "It can't be easy being locked up here in the manor after all."

"Why does Uncle have to keep me locked up anyway?" asked Luke. "Just because he's King, he thinks he can do whatever he wants."

"Luke, my brother is only concerned for you're safety! Just three more years and you'll be free. Just hang on a little longer, alright?" begged Suzanne.

"Yeah, I know, but still…"

"Luke when you're ready, meet me in the courtyard," Van said. "I promise we'll do enough training today to make up for all the time I'm gone."

"Really?" said Luke. "I'll go get my sword." He walked off humming.

"Well then Your Grace, Milady, I'll be taking my leave now if you don't mind," Van said as he bowed.

"Yes, thank you for your time," Lady Suzanne said. The Duke nodded and Van exited the room.

This was a problem. If Van had come to talk to Luke about leaving to find Ion, it meant that Tear would be showing up soon. If I could make it so that Tear was able to kill Van _right now,_ it would save everyone a whole lot of trouble. Ion and Asch wouldn't even have to die! It seemed like the perfect solution. _Except the God Generals are still out there, no one knows what Van was trying to do, Luke won't meet up with anyone else, he'll hate Tear for life, and if they capture Tear, she'll be executed._

As I was thinking about what would be the best way to proceed, the maid tugged on my sleeve. "Come on, we have to clean this up. I can't believe he didn't fire you; you are so lucky that it was Master Luke who made you fall." Actually, I would have dropped the stuff anyway, but we're not going to mention that.

"Um, there's actually something I have to do right now. I'm sorry, but could you please take care of this for me; I'll make it up to you later."

"If the Duke catches you he'll-"

"I know, but this is important. Can you please do it this once?" She didn't really look convinced, but she nodded and I wasn't going to miss my chance. "Thanks," I said as I dashed off towards the courtyard.

By the time I got there, Luke and Van had already started practicing. Luke was trying to get the hang of Fang Blade, and he actually wasn't doing too bad. _Tear's going to be here real soon; I've got to think of a way to avoid her hymn._ I had decided plugging my ears was the best way to go. I was just about to when I heard a voice. "Can I help you, miss?" Pere was looking at me curiously. _Great, I've got to think of a reason to be out here._ Fortunately, Tear saved me from answering.

" _Tue rei zue kroa ryo tue zue."_ Aw, crap. I quickly shoved my fingers in my ears and made a mad dash for Luke.

"That voice…it's putting me to sleep."

"What the heck are the guards doing?"

"Tear…I knew it."

That last sentence was spoken by Van just as Tear jumped down from the roof. "I've finally found you Vandesdelca; prepare to die traitor!" Tear shouted as she charged at him. Luke was running to try to block for Van, but I was prepared for this and tackled him before he got there. "What to you think you're doing!" Luke demanded, trying to push me away.

"Stopping you from making a huge mistake," I told him. We then heard the sound of Tear's staff piercing Van's armor. "What is the meaning of this?" demanded Van.

"Don't act like you're innocent," said Tear before striking again. Apparently, being wounded had freed him from the effects of Tear's hymn, because he moved his sword to block. Then a white light started to surround them. "Hyperresonance," said Van. "Damn it."

 _This isn't supposed to be happing, Luke never got in the way._ Wait a minute. **_Van is a seventh fonist too you moron, how could you forget that!_** This is bad. It's worse than bad. If Van get's warped instead of Luke, Auldrant is doomed. Luke will never meet up with any of the others. Even if Tear meets up with Jade and Anise, they won't have Luke to rewrite the passage rings. Plus, I have no idea how having Van meet up with everyone is going to affect things. I guess the best thing I can to now would be to try to get things as close to the way they were as possible.

How was I going to do that, you ask? Well, I attached myself to Tear, figuring that if she was going to get warped, I would too. Luke tried to get to us, but he wasn't fast enough. The hyperresonance occurred, sending the three of us halfway across the world. " _Please tell me I didn't just doom Auldrant,"_ I thought to myself.


	2. Suspicion

"W-what the heck just happened?"

"Luke, are you alright?" Guy picked himself off the ground and ran to check on a very bewildered Luke. But you couldn't blame Luke, after crazy assassins and teleporting people.

"What happened to Master Van? I want that crazy chick arrested!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure they couldn't have gotten far. If they're anywhere in Kimlasca, we'll find them in no time." She called Van a traitor…does that mean she knows about our plan to take revenge for Hod?

"Why is she after Master Van anyway? If that stupid maid didn't get in my way, I would have taken her out myself. Remind me to have her fired."

The maid kept Luke out of the way…said she was stopping him from making a mistake. She disappeared with them too…are they working together?

"I'm informing my father of this right now. I'll make sure those psychos pay. I can't believe Master Van has to put up with this!"

"I'll be with you in a minute." If they're both working so hard to protect Luke, they're probably Kimlascan. That means they should still be in the area, at least.

"Lord Gardios, are you alright?"

"Pere!" Guy quickly glanced over the area, confirming that no one else was there. Luke must have left already. "I'm fine, how about you?"

"Nothing these old bones can't handle. I'm curious though. Do you know anything about that mysterious assassin?"

"She called Van a traitor, which leads me to believe she's onto us. She's almost certainly Kimlascan; Van said her name was Tear, I think. I'm also wondering if the maid had something to do with it."

"Yes, I'm suspicious of the maid myself. I wondered why she was just standing in the courtyard. She got all jumpy when I asked her about it. I also think she knew the melodist was coming, she was smart enough to have her ears plugged."

"They're together alright. Should we let the Duke know? I'm worried it will do us more harm than good."

"If they get a chance to talk, all of us will be under suspicion. Van's a respected general though, so I'm hoping they won't take them too seriously."

"Luke's on our side, anyway. He was just ranting about how he was going to have them punished, and you know how he idolizes Van."

"I'm going to ask around, see if I can get some info on the two of them. Keep your eyes and ears open, there's no telling how many people are with them."

"Yeah, I'm going to find Luke. I'll see if Duke Fabre has any information." With that he headed for the manor.

None of the Fabres were in a good mood. Duke Fabre was demanding information, and Luke was ranting to anyone who would listen. Suzanne was in hysterics. It was total chaos.

"How did she get in here!" thundered the Duke. "I demand to know who's responsible for this!"

Suzanne wasn't much better. "My poor Luke, they didn't hurt you did they? Why does this keep happening to us? It wasn't enough for Malkuth to kidnap my son, now they're trying to assassinate him! Will they never leave us alone!"

Only a few people seemed to be listening to Luke say that they were after Van, not him. When Duke Fabre noticed Guy, he called him over. "You were there when this happened, correct? Tell me what you saw."

"Well this girl jumped off the roof and started attacking. She must have been a seventh fonist, she was able to put the guards to sleep. She attacked Van and a hyperresonance occurred. It teleported them somewhere and took one of the maids with them."

"You mean they weren't after my son?" asked Lady Suzanne. "My Luke isn't in danger?"

"See, I told you they were after Van," said Luke.

"Send someone out to find them immediately. Have them arrested and then bring to the castle dungeons. I want to talk with them." The Duke was impatient.

"Right away, your Excellency," said general Cecielle. Yeah, she was here and so was Natalia. Natalia had seen the hyperresonance coming from the manor, and was worried about Luke. Being a princess, she always had an escort.

I wonder if I should go too. I'm worried about Van.

"Guy, why weren't you protecting Luke? I heard a maid had to save him," said Natalia, getting in Guy's face.

"She was a seventh fonist, I couldn't help it! Even the guards couldn't do anything!" cried Guy, running for cover.

"Natalia leave Guy out of it, he can't fight girls anyway," said Luke sounding bored already. "Besides the maid didn't save me, she tackled me to the ground."

"Well in any case, I'll have father up the security around here. Be careful Luke, I would be devastated if anything happened to you," she said with love struck eyes.

"Uh-huh," he said.

At least some things were normal.

* * *

I woke up to the arguing of a married couple.

"Tear if only you'd…"

"What's going on? What are you planning to do?"

"I'm not planning anything. You're jumping to conclusions."

"Then what were you talking about before? I know you're planning something horrible!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Answer the question!"

Or, at least, they sounded like a married couple. Their shouting woke me up, so I'm guessing they were getting nowhere fast. Van wasn't succeeding at calming Tear down, and Tear wasn't getting any answers. Basically, they were arguing in circles.

"Look, I don't know what you heard, but whatever it was, I can explain."

"Then start explaining."

"If you'd kindly repeat the discussion you're talking about."

"So you can use it against me?"

"You're not making any sense."

"Ugh!" She pulled her hair and turned around. She looked like she was about to storm off when she saw me. "Oh…I'm sorry. Did we disturb you?"

No, you were just yelling loud enough to wake up the dead. "It's okay, I'm fine," I said. I took a look around. Something looked…off. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something seemed wrong somehow. Besides the fact that Van and I were here and Luke wasn't, of course.

"Now that you're up, we can finally get moving," said Van. "We should be able to find a place to stay before nightfall, or at least cover some decent ground."

Nightfall…that's what's wrong! It's not dark! And I'm no expert, but this place doesn't look right either. Where ARE we?

I must have spoken that last question aloud, because Van answered me. "That hyperresonance blasted us pretty far. I believe we're in Malkuth, probably at Deo Pass."

Oh no. Oh no no no no. This was not good. We were supposed to be in Tataroo Valley. I guess having three people getting teleported instead of two threw the hyperresonance off track. And if it was light out, we either overslept or woke up early. This was bad. If we were a day behind, I had no idea how we were going to catch up to Anise and Jade. I don't even think we were near them.

"How far is it to the nearest city?" Tear asked.

"Akzeriuth's closest, but it's in the opposite direction from the way we want to be going. We can probably make it to Kaitzur and arrange a ship home the next day."

"Okay then." She turned to me. "We'll get you home safely, I promise. Just stay close, there could be monsters out here."

Monsters…I was so not looking forward to that. Especially with no weapon or armor. Or artes. And Tear's a caster. Oh, joy.

We did run into quite a few monsters on the way out, but Van killed them all before Tear could even finish casting. Having Van be the only thing between us and oncoming death was not a comforting thought. Seeing as I was useless, I mostly hid behind Tear and tried to keep up with them.

Tear seemed to notice I was kind of scared, because she slowed the pace for me and didn't mind me hovering around her. "Don't worry, we won't let any of them get to you. Van's an expert swordsman, and I'm an accomplished fonist myself."

"Thanks," I said. But in between monster attacks, I was actually kind of distracted. Jade and Anise had probably already left Engave, and I didn't think going to Kaitzur was going to get us any closer to them. I had no idea how to get them to change direction though, never mind the fact we'd be going completely backwards.

We reached Kaitzur at about sundown, and Van got us a place to stay for the night. He arranged for a ship, and had a discussion with them about when it would arrive and stuff. While I was listening, I heard them mention today's date. It was them same date you start at in the game! That meant Jade and Anise wouldn't make it to Engave for a day at least, and wouldn't hit Cheagle Woods for two days. There was still time!

"I've arranged for a ship, it should be here in about two days," Van said. "In the meantime, I'm going to get us dinner. Make yourselves comfortable at the inn." With that, he left.

We settled ourselves down in the room. Tear spoke first. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused. I promise I had no intention of getting anyone else involved in this. My name's Tear. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Thank you." I tried to curtsy, but I tripped on the rug and ended up falling on my on my face. So much for that.

She laughed. "So cute…" I heard her say. I should probably mention I was still in the maid outfit. Needless to say, I got a lot of strange looks when we entered the place.

Van came back with the food, and we had a quiet meal before retiring for the night. They still didn't seem to want to talk with each other, which was fine with me. I still needed to figure out how to drag Tear to Engave.

* * *

Now Van was very bothered about something. Obviously he was bothered by Tear having suspicions as to what he was up to and how she new. But the maid also bothered him. She could have tackled Luke just to try and protect him. But when the hyperresonance started, she grabbed on to Tear and stayed there for no apparent reason. Not to mention she seemed comfortable around Tear and uneasy around him, which was completely backwards. Tear had broken into the manor, which should identify her as a criminal, while he was a trusted mentor of the Fabres. It made no sense. Something was up here, but he couldn't put his finger on it. At least not yet anyway...


	3. St Binah

"Tear, Tear! Ion's been kidnapped!"

This was part of my brilliant strategy to get Tear to go back to Engave. Van had told the Fabres that Ion had gone missing, so he should be able to back me up. All I had to do was say I overheard someone at the port say they heard Ion had been taken to Engave. Then I could get them to head there and meet up with Ion (who hopefully could explain he wasn't actually kidnapped). Then we could help him take care of the cheagle problem and get things back to normal. Or at least, as normal as they were going to get anyway.

"Fon Master Ion!" asked Van. "Where did you hear this?"

"I heard it at the port. Some guy said Ion had been taken to Engave. We have to help him!"

"Who told you this?" asked Tear. "We need to know if he has more information."

"I, um, err..." I guess I didn't think this through completely. "I don't know. I just overheard someone talking about it. I didn't really even look at them, I just ran here to tell you guys." _I'm a bad liar._

"Which area were you in?" _Damn, she's persistent._

"I don't know…over there…behind the crates?"

10 minutes and some unsuccessful questioning later, Van decided to just head for Engave. Apparently whoever I overheard already left or wasn't going to say anything. And we were wasting time just standing here. _Thank you for convincing lies._

"Let's go to Engave. Whoever it is isn't talking and were wasting time standing here. We should be able to make it to Saint Binah in a few hours and Engave's not far from there," he said.

"Alright." Tear turned to me. "You stay here. There are monsters out and we don't want you getting hurt."

What! Seriously! Are you kidding me! I go through all this work to set things right and they're going to ditch me! Talk about fair.

"I want to help. If I just stand here doing nothing I'll worry myself sick."

"You'll only be a burden and we can't afford to be slowed down," Van said. "Besides, you're safer here with guaranteed meals and a bed to sleep in."

I hate logic. I really do. All it does is bite me in the butt.

"Van's right," Tear said. _Come on Tear, you too?_ "You can take the ship back yourself, we probably won't be back here on time. We'll leave a note explaining things and head back later.

"But..."

"No buts. You're staying here." Van had a brief chat with one of the guards outside and Tear scribbled me a note. "Here. Give this to the captain." Then they left.

So. Not. Cool. They get to meet up with Jade and Anise and I'm stuck here. Fine. I'm just going to follow them. I waited about 10 minutes to be sure they had left and then slipped out the door. I didn't get very far though, before a guard stopped me.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked me. Oh, I don't know, trying to catch up with Tear and a sociopath?

"Nothing. Just going for a walk." _Believe me, believe me._

"There are monsters out; it's not safe for civilians. You need to stay here, we told General Grants we'd keep an eye on you."

Seriously! Just. Flipping. Great. It's not enough to just leave me here, they had to make sure I couldn't go anywhere else either. Now what am I supposed to do?

"Oh, um, okay. I'll just go back to my room." I ran out of there before he could ask me any further questions.

So that's how I came to be sitting on my bed with nothing to do. There weren't even any books in this place. I was alternating between thinking of how to catch up to Tear and counting the patchwork squares on the quilt (I think I lost my spot after 257). I decided my best chance would be to wait until nightfall. Then hopefully no one would notice if I tried to sneak out. Until then, I had nothing to do. Except to try recounting the squares, I guess. One, two, three, four…

I never did figure out how many there were (I got to 465 before I got a headache) but eventually it did get dark out so I guess it didn't matter anyway. I waited about another 2 hours, just to be safe, before I tried to slip out again. There were only a few guards on duty and it didn't take me too long to slip past them. Then I started walking to Engave. Or at least, I _think_ I was walking to Engave, it's been awhile since I actually had navigate. (The Albiore's autopilot made things so much easier.)

I don't know how long I was walking for (an hour? Two hours? 45 minutes?) before I found out the hard way that this was a bad idea. A very bad idea. Because I ran into bandits. (Really, I should have counted myself lucky that I didn't run into any until now, but that wasn't exactly the first thought on my mind.)

Aw, crap. I have no allies, no weapon, not even any armor. On the other hand I have no money, so maybe they won't bother? Bandits don't just kill people for fun do they?

"Well, well, what do we have here?" one of them said.

"Looks like a little girl, out all by herself."

"Not just any girl, a maid! What's she doing all the way out here?"

"What a waste! Maids have no money!"

"I bet this one does, why else would she be sneaking out in the dark by herself?"

 _What do I do, WHAT DO I DO?_ There's no way I can fight them, and there's too many to outrun. But it's not exactly like I have another option. If I leave while they're arguing I can get a head start. That seems like the best plan. I took off while I had the chance. It didn't take them long to notice though.

"Hey, after her!" They all started chasing after me. And let me tell you these shoes were NOT made for running. My feet were killing me, my side felt like it was going to explode, and they were gaining on me. I was going to die here.

" **HELP ME!"** I screamed at the top of my lungs. I was practically out of air, but I figured I didn't really have much to lose. It was get help or die. But who would be out here to help in the middle of the night was beyond me.

Then the worst thing happened. I TRIPPED. There's a horde of bandits chasing me and **I TRIPPED!** What a great last day of my life. I curled up into a ball and, sobbing, prepared for the worst. I heard a sound like metal connecting with flesh, but a felt no pain yet. I guess I was in shock.

I heard it again and someone started screaming. It was probably me, I've heard of people hearing screams and not realizing it was coming from them. But then I heard another scream, different from the first one. And listening closer, the cries sounded male. I must be going delirious.

I opened an eye to see what exactly was going on. Bandits were falling all around me. _What the hell?_ _I died. I died and wound up here_ was the only thought going through my mind. But eventually the screaming stopped. Probably because there were no more bandits. I looked up to see who had killed them and was met with a shocking site.

 _LARGO?_ _LARGO the BLACK LION_ saved me? This day was just getting too weird. I'm dreaming. I fell asleep waiting for it to get dark and I'm dreaming. Or maybe I'm dreaming that I'm in Tales of the Abyss in the first place. It's the only explanation.

"Are you alright?" I looked up to see a _liger_ standing in front of my face. " **AHHHH!"** I screamed and tried to run, but my legs weren't exactly cooperating with me so all I managed to do was scoot away a little on my butt. I was sparred from bandits only to die by ligers. Why me, why me?

"Arietta, you're scaring her." That voice sounded familiar and decidedly female. "Get off the liger if you want to talk to her."

"He's not scary," she said, but still did as she was told. I could now see Legretta was the one who had spoken to her. _The God Generals? I got saved by the God Generals?_ I think it was at this point that I decided to just stop thinking. It wasn't exactly getting me anywhere anyway.

"Now Largo, do you care to explain why exactly you dragged us into this?" Legretta didn't look pleased. Actually, she looked like she might shoot me if I said anything. So I kept quiet and tried to understand what was going on.

"It wasn't just my idea, Asch and Arietta took off as well. You seemed to be the only one who wanted to simply ignore it," Largo said with a smirk. She glared and said something, but I wasn't really paying attention.

 _Asch? Asch was_ here _?_ I took a look around. Sure enough, he was standing to the side, cleaning the blood off his sword. He was watching me, but turned away when I looked at him. _I got saved by Asch! That's like every fangirl's dream!_

"Well what exactly do you propose we do with her?" Yep, Legretta definitely didn't like me. I don't understand why though, it's not like I did anything to her.

"Well I'd start with asking her why she was out here in the first place." Largo turned to me. "Don't you know it's dangerous go be out by yourself, especially at night?"

"Uhhh," my vocal cords were not exactly functioning. Actually, pretty much nothing was functioning. Which was probably a good thing as it kept me from blabbing about Asch.

"She probably got lost," Arietta said sitting down next to me. "That's why I always travel with my friends." Her 'friend' was standing not to far away watching us. "Where were you going?"

"Engave," I said before realizing how stupid that was. I was practically leading them straight to Ion. "I mean St. Binah," I stammered, figuring I could make it from there (not going to try night traveling again though).

"Which is it?" rumbled Largo.

"St. Binah," I answered. "Yep, definitely St. Binah."

"Now I suppose you're going to say we have to take her there," sighed Legretta looking resigned. "At least it's not too far out of our way, let's just hurry up before we waste anymore time."

"Okay," said Arrietta getting back on her liger. "Come on, you can follow me."

I wasn't exactly looking forward to following a liger, but no one else was offering so I guess I didn't have a choice. I went to stand up but promptly fell back down again. My ankle was _killing_ me.

"And to top it off she's injured." Legretta looked really pissed right now. "We're not stopping for her." She started to march off.

"H-here." Whoa, when did Asch get so close? "I'll help you up." He grabbed my hand and yanked me upwards sending me crashing into his chest. "A-Arietta could you…" he didn't finish his sentence.

"She can ride with me!" she said bringing her liger over. Asch helped me on the liger and then we started to follow Legrertta out. Arietta was babbling about something to do with Ion and Anise, but I wasn't exactly listening. My mind was in la-la land and I liked it that way.

As it was we reached St. Binah close to sun-up. Legretta was more than happy to ditch me there, but Largo wanted to make sure I got someone to take care of my ankle. He was willing to go to the inn and pay for a room and some gels for me, but Asch volunteered instead. Not just volunteered either, he insisted on doing it and without Largo's help.

All the un-Asch-like behavior should have clued me that something was up, but like I said my mind was in la-la land. He helped me hobble over to the inn and paid for a room and some gels while I flopped down on the bed. Let me tell you riding a liger with a bad ankle makes you _sore_.

Asch walked into the room with the gels and then shut the door He sat down on the edge of the bed and glared at me. I had no clue what was going on. "What are you doing here?" he asked. That was a good question, too bad I didn't have a good answer. I opened my mouth to try to come up with one, but he cut me off. "And don't try to lie either. I recognize your uniform, care to explain what one of the Duke's maids is doing all the way out here?"

Oh. Shit. Of course he would recognize it, he used to live there. How the hell was I going to explain this. _Nothing really, Van's sister just tried to kill him, but he stopped her and caused a hyperresonance. Then we got warped here, I refused to listen to Van, and I snuck out. Then I got attacked by bandits, you saved me, and now we're here._ That was so not going to go over well.

"I, um, err…" _Way to go, that totally makes you sound intelligent._ But what was I supposed to say? The truth would cause more problems than it was worth, and it's not like he was going to believe me anyway. I needed to come up with something though, because he obviously didn't like waiting.

"I came here to pick up something…for Duke Fabre." Sounds believable right? At least, I hope it did.

"What was it?" he asked. Yep, he was still in a bad mood. And now I had to come up with something else.

"Mushrooms." Don't laugh, it was the only thing I could think of. There was that side quest where you had to get some for Luke's mom, so it shouldn't sound like I'm totally crazy.

"And where were you supposed to pick them up from?" He's smirking now, I bet he totally knows I'm lying. It's not like I could say Mushroom Road either, there's now way he would believe that. Why did the game make you go all the way out there for mushrooms in the first place?

Wait, I remember now! The mushrooms came from Saint Binah, but after the outer lands fell, they couldn't get them anymore. "I'm supposed to get them here. I thought they would be in Engave because it's a farming town, but Saint Binah's better with medicines."

Well that shut him up. Only for a bit though. "How do you know about that medicine? Only Suzanne's doctors know about that and they have it shipped there. They don't send maids to get it. I bet you're a spy from Malkuth aren't you?"

That was definitely not what I was expecting. "I'm not a spy! This is just a big misunderstanding!" I bet he's going to kill me…

"Tell me everything you know and I just might let you live. Of course, I can't promise anything…" He had his sword to my neck, and I didn't doubt that he was serious.

"I'm not a spy! I don't know anything!" I screamed. "I only knew about that because I heard someone talking about it! That's it!"

"And how am I supposed to believe you when you've just admitted to telling at least one lie? Sorry, but I don't buy it." He slammed me into the wall and pressed his sword into my throat enough to draw blood. "Now why don't you tell the truth this time?"

Suddenly the door swung open and two very familiar faces came in. Asch swung around to see what was going on, which gave Tear just enough time to raise her staff and smash it down on his head. Asch turned his sword away from me and towards her, and they probably would have started killing each other if Van hadn't stopped them.

"That's enough!" he screamed, and it was enough to make everyone more afraid of him than they were of anyone else in the room. "Just what in Lorelei's name is going on here?"

"He's trying to kill me!" I said pointing a finger at Asch. I probably sounded like a two year old at this point, but I didn't exactly care. "It's her fault!" Asch yelled. "She's a lying, good for nothing spy. You should have her executed!"

"So says the would be murderer," said Tear looking at Asch coldly. "As if we would believe anything you say."

"Asch calm down. She might be a little odd, but I can assure you she's not a spy," said Van. He turned to me. "I thought we left you in Kaitzur. How did you get here?"

This led to Asch screaming, "You know her!" at the same time Tear screamed at Van, "You know him!"

Van sighed like he didn't think it was possible that this day could get any worse. "I guess some introductions are in order. Tear, that's Asch, one of the God Generals I'm in charge of. Asch, this is Tear, my sister. The girl you thought is a spy is a maid of Duke Fabre's. She was blasted here along with Tear and myself during a hyperresonance accident. Everyone there is fine."

It was about this time that the innkeeper showed up. "What in Auldrant is going on in here? I heard people screaming something about murder and now there's twice as many people in here as there's supposed to be. And that girl looks even worse than she did when she was brought here and that sword's dripping blood on the floor. What the heck happened?"

"Everything's fine," said Van. "Just a misunderstanding."

"Well in any case I'm going to have to ask all of you to leave. My other customers don't feel very safe after hearing all of that racket."

"All right," Van said. "We can talk about this outside." Everyone headed for the door, but when I tried to stand up, I fell right back down.

"Are you okay?" Tear sat next to me looking very concerned. "He didn't break anything did he?" Tear glanced at Asch as if she was still thinking about killing him.

"It's not that, it's my ankle. I hurt it on the trip here."

"Here let me heal it." She closed her eyes and concentrated on an arte. "First Aid!"

Within seconds, my ankle felt much better. She also healed the cut on my neck. I stood up and thanked Tear. "Don't worry about it," she said.

"You're a seventh fonist?" Asch asked Tear, sounding surprised. That's right, seventh fonists were rare, but I kept forgetting about that because you meet so many during the game. "Yes, but considering you're in the Order, I would have thought you'd have seen seventh fonists before," Tear answered.

"They're scorers, not healers," said Asch said. "It's not the same thing." Then deciding he'd had enough of this topic, he headed out the door. The rest of us followed suit.

We went outside and stopped a bit north of Saint Binah. Van still wanted to know what happened so he took Asch off somewhere to interrogate him, and left Tear to deal with me.

"So what exactly happened?" she asked. So I told her about leaving Kaitzur, running into bandits, being saved by God Generals, and Asch thinking I was a spy.

"So he actually helped you," she said almost to herself. "But why did you lie about why you were here? That doesn't make any sense."

"I didn't think he would believe me if I told the truth. If this hadn't just happened to you, would you have believed me?"

She smiled and shook her head. "No, I suppose not. I'm glad you're alright though."

"What were you two doing in Saint Binah?" I asked. I thought you would have made it to Engave by now."

"There were a lot of monsters," said Tear, "and, of course, bandits. I guess we didn't get all of them. You shouldn't have been out by yourself at night; that was extremely dangerous."

"I know," I said. "I'm sorry."

* * *

"Care to explain what happened back there?" asked Van.

"We were looking for that landship like you told us too. Then we heard someone screaming and Arietta just took off. We found that girl being attacked by bandits, so we got rid of them. Largo wanted to take her to an inn and get her injuries treated, so we took her to Saint Binah."

"That still doesn't explain your lying spy comment."

"If she's really my dad's maid, she shouldn't have been out here. When I asked her why she was here, she said something about buying mushrooms."

"Mushrooms?"

"Now do you get why I called her a liar?"

"I'm going to have to keep an eye on her. I don't think it's serious enough for her to be a spy, but that girl has been acting strangely this whole time."

"Strange how?"

"That hyperresonance should have only warped me and Tear. When she saw what was happening, she hung on for the ride."

"Do you think she manipulated it somehow?"

"Unlikely. Although she football tackled your replica, so it's possible."

"About time someone did that."

"In any case, I'm going to ask some of the other God Generals to search Engave with us. Legretta for sure since Tear trusts her."

"You know, you never told me you had a sister."

"You never asked."

"So that maid isn't _your_ spy?"

"Of course not. Let's get back to the others."

* * *

Van came back a little later with Asch. "We should head to Engave to see about the Fon Master, if you weren't lying about that also," Van said.

I guess Asch would have told Van about that whole _I'm here to pick up mushrooms_ thing. Now I have two people who don't trust me. "I'm positive that Ion's in Engave," I said. At least I wasn't lying this time.

"Why do you keep calling him Ion?" asked Asch. "You act like you know the Fon Master personally or something." Now everyone was looking at me.

"I don't know…I guess it's just easier to say. And that pink haired friend of yours called him Ion too, so what's wrong with it?" I asked.

"Arrietta does know Ion personally," said Van. "And it wouldn't hurt to address him with proper respect," added Tear. Great. Now they'll all be on my case.

"Let's just get to Engave," grumbled Asch. "We're wasting time just standing here."

We reached Engave late in the evening. When we got there the other God Generals were waiting for us. "We received word that the Fon Master was in this town," said Legretta. "We were just about to search it."

"Major Legretta?" said Tear sounding surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Fon Master Ion has gone missing," she said. "We're searching for him."

"So are we," said Tear. "He shouldn't be hard to find with this many people."

"Legretta, Arietta, you two search this place with us," said Van. "Asch, Largo, you to keep looking for that landship."

"I don't think it would be wise to look now, it's almost dark," Tear said. "Why don't we stay at the inn and look into it tomorrow?"

So we got two rooms and split up between guys and girls. (Plus the liger. Arietta snuck it in somehow.) Apparently I was the only one who thought it was creepy that Van decided to bring all the girls with him and have the guys do something else. Tear and Legretta didn't mind working together and Arietta kept insisting I was her new friend, so I guess it made a weird kind of sense. And I don't think either of us really wanted to be with Asch after the earlier incident that morning, and it's not like Van was just going to let him go off by himself.

"I bet Anise kidnapped Ion. She knows he'd rather have me as a Fon Master Guardian," said Arietta.

"Who's Anise?" asked Tear.

"She's his new Fon Master Guardian. I had to give the position up after I became a God General."

"Arietta, I highly doubt that Anise had anything to do with it. Don't listen to her Tear, those two are the biggest rivals you'll ever see," said Legretta.

"Let's all get some rest so we'll be fresh for tomorrow," said Tear.

Tomorrow we'd meet up with Anise, Ion, and Jade. That was certainly going to be interesting. Hopefully we don't all get arrested like Luke and Tear did in the game. Still, it'd be great if Van got thrown in prison.

But if we don't get arrested, then we won't be there when the Tartarus gets attacked. And none of us have any overwhelming rank in Kimlasca, so they might not ask us to help them with the peace treaty anyway. Why didn't I think of this stuff sooner?

Not to mention the fact that Guy might not even show up since Luke wasn't kidnapped. But since Legretta and Arietta are coming with us, that'd be less God Generals for Anise and Jade to deal with.

And then there's the liger issue. I don't think Arietta would be very happy if we killed her mom right in front of her. But if we don't, the ligers will eat all the cheagles, and maybe the townspeople once they're gone. Everything seems so hopeless.


	4. Cheagle Woods

It didn't take long to run into everyone the next day. We found Anise almost immediately.

"Ion! Ion! Where did you run off to now?"

"You know Fon Master Ion?" Tear asked.

"See I told you Anise was behind this," Arietta said. "She just wants to steal Ion away from me."

"Oh look, it's Gloomietta."

"I'm not gloomy!"

"Enough," Van said. "Do you know where Fon Master Ion is?"

"Oh, the Commandant's here. And a lot of the other God Generals too. What are you guys doing all the way out here?" Anise asked.

"We're looking for Fon Master Ion," Tear said. "I take it you're his Fon Master Guardian?"

"Do you know where he is or not?" asked Van sounding impatient.

She never got the chance to answer because of the angry mob that showed up. "Thieves! I bet they're the ones who stole the food from the storehouse. Their huge liger probably ate it all."

"What are you talking about?" Asch asked.

"Yeah, my liger didn't eat any of your food anyways."

"So it's just a coincidence that you show up and all our food disappears? I don't think so."

"Listen," Van spoke up, "there's been a misunderstanding. I'm Dorian General Van Grants, and the liger you're accusing belongs to the God General Arietta the Wild. None of us have stolen anything."

"Well we…" they seemed a lot less eager to pick a fight now that they knew who they were dealing with. "You should go talk to the mayor. She has the final say on everything. If she says your liger didn't eat it, then we don't have a problem with you."

"All right," said Tear, "we'll do that."

Sure enough, when we got there Jade and Ion were already inside. "…looks like cheagle fur. It's probably what raided your food stores."

"I see," said Rose before turning around. "And who do we have here?"

"Rose, we think these guys' liger is the one who ate all the food from the storehouse."

"I told you he didn't eat any of it!"

"Calm down everyone, Rose said. "It has actually been confirmed that the fur was from a cheagle, not a liger. These people aren't to blame."

"Oh, well…we're sorry. Please forgive us," said the leader as the group began to shuffle away.

"Fon Master Ion," said Van, "We heard that you'd been kidnapped. Tell me, is this true?"

"No. I'm sorry for worrying everyone. Were you searching for me long?"

"Heck yeah," Asch muttered under his breath.

"In any case, began Van, "we need to get you back to Daath. Your disappearance has caused quite a commotion."

"I have something I need to attend to first. And seeing how the cheagles are the scared beast of the Order, I feel obligated to investigate why they've been stealing food."

"I can have Asch and Arrietta see to that. You need to go back."

"Now now, questioning the wishes of the Fon Master isn't a nice thing to do is it?" Jade said with a smirk.

"And you are?" Van asked.

"Colonel Jade Curtis, Third Division Malkuth Imperial Forces. And who might all of you be?"

"Dorian General Grants, Commandant of the Order of Lorelei."

"God General Legretta the Quick."

"Largo the Black Lion."

"Asch the Bloody."

"I'm Arietta the Wild."

"Locrian Sergeant Tear Grants, Grand Maestro Mohs, Intelligence Division."

Nobody bothered to ask who I was. I swear maids are invisible.

"You're working for Mohs?" Anise piped up.

"Intelligence Division you say? Are you here looking for something?" asked Jade.

"That's classified information," Tear responded.

"Why don't all of you work together," asked Rose. "If you have the time to investigate this cheagle problem for us, we'd greatly appreciate it."

"Well if they're willing, I suppose I can't say no," Jade said.

"Let's just get this over with," Van responded.

"Then it's settled. If there's anything you need, let me know," Rose said.

"I can't believe I have to work with Gloomietta," mumbled Anise as we made our way towards the Cheagle Woods.

"I'm not Gloomy!"

"Both of you shut up," said Legretta as she marched ahead of them.

"My, we have a rather short temper today don't we?" Legretta shot Jade a glare that would have sent any normal person cowering in fear, but Jade being Jade, he smiled like nothing had happened.

"I think we're here," Ion spoke up.

The Cheagle Woods was fairly large, but it looked so peaceful that you would have no idea there were monsters there if you didn't know any better. Nobody else seemed that impressed with it though.

"Oh, Mommy is here. Can we stop by and see her please?"

"Maybe after we're done," Van answered.

After wandering around for a bit and defeating a couple of monsters, we spotted our first cheagle. "Over there," said Ion pointing under a large bush.

It was pink and appeared to be a youngster. "It's so cute."

"I wanna see too," said Arietta, but as her liger turned around so she could get a better look, the cheagle took off. "It ran away…" she said sounding disappointed.

"I'm not surprised," said Jade. "Ligers eat cheagles, so it's only natural that it should run away."

"Aww..." she pouted.

"Maybe they're just scared of Arietta because she's so Gloomy."

"Shut up Anise!"

"Can you two please get along," Ion begged. I hate to see you two fighting."

"Okay fine, but only because you asked nicely," responded Anise.

"Anything for you, Ion," Arietta said.

"I think it went that way," Asch pointed. "We should go after it."

After walking in the general direction Asch pointed out, we found the cheagle again. When it saw us, it scampered into a tree and disappeared.

"This might be their nest," said Tear. "Cheagles live in trees."

"Arietta, maybe you should leave your liger here for now," said Largo. "He'll only scare them away."

"Aww…." she pouted but she dismounted anyway.

"Let's just go already," grumbled Asch, charging ahead.

We followed him in and were greeted by a whole hoard of cheagles.

"There's so many of them!" Anise exclaimed.

"They're all so cute," Tear said with a blush.

Suddenly, an old looking cheagle made its way to the front of the pack. "Are you of relation to Yulia Jue?" it asked us.

"It can talk!?" said Asch, sounding surprised.

"Yulia Jue, the founder of the Order of Lorelei, made a pact with the cheagles," said Ion. "I'm guessing that's why we can understand them."

"Indeed," responded the cheagle elder. "This is the sorcerer's ring, given to us by Yulia. It allows us to communicate with humans, among other things. Are any of you of relation to her?"

"Yes. I am Fon Master Ion of the Order of Lorelei. We're here because we've heard you've been stealing food from Engave."

"I see…so you've come to exterminate us."

"It's not like that!" Tear rushed to explain. "We just want to know why you're doing it."

"Cheagles are herbivores," Ion elaborated, "so we don't understand why you need to steal people's food."

"It's because of the ligers," said the cheagle elder.

"Huh!" Arietta exclaimed. "How to you figure it's their fault!"

"Allow me to explain. One of our youngsters caused a fire in the northern forest, burning the ligers' home. As a result, they moved here to prey on us."

"Then you deserve it!" Arietta shouted.

"It still doesn't explain why you're stealing food," Van said.

"We give the food to the ligers, and in exchange, they leave us alone. It's the only way to preserve the cheagle tribe."

"That's horrible…" said Tear.

"But what can you do about it?" asked Anise. "It's not like the ligers are just going to move."

"If something isn't done, the ligers could move on to Engave after they've finished off the cheagles," stated Largo.

"We're not letting that happen!" Asch stated firmly.

"But how can we stop it?" said Ion, becoming downcast.

"I will send you an interpreter to speak with the ligers," the cheagle elder said. "The young one must atone for his sins."

A small blue cheagle came forward from the back of the pack. "Mieu!" I exclaimed happily! Everyone else looked at me pretty strangely.

"This is Mieu," said the cheagle elder, sounding slightly confused as to how I knew his name. "He's the one that started the fire in the north. He will serve as your interpreter to make up for what he's done."

"We don't need him," said Arietta. "I can talk to the ligers myself. And I don't want that creature that destroyed Mommy's home anywhere near me!"

"Mommy?" asked Tear sounding confused.

"Arietta was raised by ligers," Van explained. The ligers that are here now are actually part of Arietta's family."

"So Gloomietta can get them to move, right?"

"SHUT UP, ANISE!"

"Please Arietta," asked Ion. "I can't allow the cheagles to suffer, and I'm sure you know lots of other good spots where the ligers could stay."

"Ion, I…if you say so Ion. But they can't move now. Not until Arietta's brothers and sisters hatch."

"This could be a problem," stated Legretta. "They'll need even more food after the new ligers hatch, and if the cheagles can't provide enough, they may go for the town."

"Liger young like human flesh," added Largo. "Perhaps we should stay away for now and leave this to Arietta."

"Mommy won't let them eat you if I ask her not to," Arietta said.

"I'm not sure I want to take the chance," Jade spoke up.

"So what are we supposed to do?" Asch asked.

"I'll talk to Mommy. You guys can come if you want to."

"What about Meiu?" I spoke up.

"In either case, Mieu is banished from the cheagle tribe," stated the elder. "Naturally I don't mean forever. A full cycle of seansons should be enough to learn from his mistake."

"But where will he go?" asked Tear. "He's so young…"

"He can come with us," I spoke up quickly. "I wouldn't mind looking after him."

"Does that sit well with you, Mieu?" asked the cheagle elder.

"Mieu, mieu, mieu, mieu!" He seemed like he was happy, so I took it as a yes. The elder then proceeded to give Mieu the Sorcerer's Ring. "Thank you very much, Master!" Mieu said. I promise I won't be a burden to you."

"Ma-master?" said Tear blushing. I bet she wished she had Mieu instead. But in either case, he was supposed to belong to Luke, not me. Things are getting really messed up.

"We'll let Arietta take care of the ligers," Van said. We need to get Fon Master Ion back to Daath."

"But I can't go back yet," said Ion. "I promise I'll go back soon, please just give me a little longer."

"What is so overwhelmingly important that you can't come back and let everyone know you're alright?" asked Legretta?

"I have a letter from His Majesty Peony the Ninth, Emperor of Malkuth," said Jade. "He requests a formal peace treaty with the kingdom of Kimlasca. We need Ion to act as a neutral third party, and to show by his presence as Fon Master that we're serious. We also need him to gain entrance into Kimlasca."

"I can help you with that," said Van. "I tutor the king's nephew in sword fighting. I can grant you access to Kimlasca, and I'm sure the Kimlascan nobles will listen to my opinion."

"Then we can get you home too," said Tear turning to me.

I'm not even sure if this is a good thing or not. On the one hand, Tear and Luke did head back to Kimlasca to give the Ingobert the peace treaty. On the other hand, we'd be skipping a whole bunch of stuff that happened in the game. But I can't really make the God Generals attack the ship if Van is going to go along with this so…

"Then it's settled," said Ion. "I'm sure if we all work together, we can achieve peace between the two kingdoms."

"I have a ship parked near here," said Jade. "We can use that to get to Kimlasca."

"I'm heading back to Daath," Asch said abruptly, and turned and began walking away.

"What's with you?" asked Anise. "Don't you want to help people?"

"It's not that it's…personal reasons."

"It'd probably be best if we didn't bring too many God Generals, otherwise it could look like we're trying to force them to sign," said Van. "Largo can go back with you, and Arietta can catch up to the two of you once she's done."

"Fine," said Asch, and he proceeded to leave. Largo followed behind him.

"I guess that leaves us," said Tear.

"Let's be on our way then," Legretta said.


End file.
